A Bone To Pick
by MihoAnsatsu
Summary: Lizbeth's new sword looks nothing like part of Ahkab's arm...right? According to Baba, they're exactly alike.


In the Piranas, it was safe to say that the most unusual you were, the less chance there was of Bloodh throwing you overboard. And whilst Lizbeth may have not had skin that donned a map of the world like Goldie or deadly poisonous saliva like Pesth, she had one thing that made her stand out. And despite her pride, she wasn't the one who insisted it lay on the table everytime the pirates gathered to drink; egged on by her fellow pirates, she decided it best for her sanity to quell their demands with it's appearance, especially when she was in small company upon the ship's hull. When she was in a good mood, she even let the likes of the young Baba touch it; today being one of those days, she couldn't help but chuckling at his never-ending awe as he handled the sword like the rarest diamond.

"This is never going to stop being cool," he said, as the two Piranas were sat on starboard bound, having been admiring the sunset; so caught up in their affairs, they hadn't noticed that they'd soon been joined by a familiar figure and sea-beast, Ahkab, who couldn't help shaking his head in humoured annoyance at what was going on.

"Hey you two," He said, nodding at the female and flashing his young half-brother a smile. "Baba, if you keep ogling that sword then my harpoon's gonna get jealous."

"He's a funny one, isn't he?" Lizbeth retorted, sounding a little sarcastic; many would think her response was a sign of coldness toward her fellow Pirana, but she knew that Ahkab was easily annoyed by the overly friendly and the honest truth was that they were actually on good terms.

"He is, I...oh..my..gawd," Baba began, sounding as if he'd just worked out the answer to a rather difficult something. Suddenly brandishing the sword and gently laying it against his half-brother's blue, muscular, skin, the younger male seemed to have quite the cheeky grin on his face.

"HAH! It looks like she's stolen part of your arm!"

Immediately (and quite roughly) snatching the sword off the little redhead, Ahkab couldn't help glancing at said sword, then at his arm, then at the sword again; his face wearing a slightly disgusted expression as he did so. The Piranas knew Lizbeth as an aggressor in battle and as sharp-tongued as they came when she wanted to be, but they also knew that Lizbeth was actually a caring soul and she cared a _lot_ about what others thought about her. Upon noticing his disgusted expression, she couldn't help feeling guilty, and also couldn't help fearing that the constant appearances of her sword may have seemed like a big 'feck you' to Ahkab.

"Oh jeez," she began, trying to hide the sudden nerves in her voice. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend anyone, especially not an Aquanian."

"What?! _I'm_ not from Aquanis, you stupid bitch, the coral that made me this way is! And if anything, I'm more pissed off at that little runt for making such a stupid comparison. Besides," he continued, throwing the sword in the air and catching it cleanly by the handle. "The bone on my arm is dead. Well, kinda. This bone is living. I've seen how it adjusts itself depending on the strength and size on your opponent."

Handing the trophy back to it's owner, Ahkab jumped back a couple of steps and took on the basic boxing pose, light on his toes and bouncing slightly like a kid on a little too much sugar.

"Come on, Lizbeth," he taunted, a rather devious smirk on his face. "Make me hit myself."

"I don't think the captain would appreciate us starting fights amongst ourselves for no reason," she responded, gazing at the floorboards and not even looking the sea-beast in the eye; having already had three Piranas try and start a fight with the new girl was bad enough, but actively egging her clanmates on was a different story altogether.

"Ok, ok," Ahkab said, sounding a little disappointed at her refusal as he pointed at her sword. "But at least watch."

The trio's stares directed themselves at the trophy of bone as it began to shift and gradually grow in size. Having never properly noticed it before, Lizbeth couldn't help but feel a shocked expression form on her face; fingers hovering over the quivering bone, she carefully and lightly tapped it with her fingernail as if to convince herself that it was actually happening.

"That would explain why Sliman once thought I'd stolen more than one sword," she said, shaking her head. "It must have adopted a different size everytime he's seen it."

"Sliman's a stupid asshole and his judgement is the last one you wanna be caring about," Ahkab scoffed, lightly flicking Lizbeth on the nose.

"He'd pincer anyone who dared disagree with him though," she said, looking slightly wide-eyed with worry. "And his claws are ten times tougher than Aquanis weaponry."

"The bone is tough though," the sea beast said, knocking on his own bone fragments and relishing the deep, defensive sounds. "Unless Sliman suddenly developed a diamond lining on his pincers, you've no need to worry."

"What about adamantium?" Baba piped up, suddenly feeling the smile fade from his face when he noticed the looks on the older Piranas' faces.

"That doesn't even exist," Ahkab said, staring him down in a slightly irked way. "And you know it. You've been spending too much time with Puff, fawning over those comic books that the Junkz were going to throw out."

"Which he said he'd let me have a peek at," Lizbeth said, a grin on her face as she ruffled the young male's ginger hair and then went on to tickle him under his arm. "We had a deal, you. I let you have a closer look at my sword, _again_, and you let me look through your comic books."

Noticing the irked look on Ahkab's face, Lizbeth gently laid the bone sword into Baba's hands once more and took a few steps away with the sea beast, as if to discuss private matters.

"It was the only thing he had that I was interested in," she whispered. "I know he has his drumming skills but everytime he has to use them, all I think about is those poor rowers down there. Why does the ship even need them when we have Puff to provide wind?"

"Puff's still young," Ahkab explained, realising that Lizbeth had hold of his arm and gently pulling away. "Yes, he's got the wind but he can't control direction. The rowers down there can. Plus Bloodh has a bit of a slave complex, so everytime the Piranas completely ransack somewhere, we get new 'volunteers'. There are people down there I know from where Baba and I lived, but they don't like talking to me anymore."

He'd sounded uncaring about the whole situation, but Ahkab felt himself sighing slightly at the instance of his once-friends ditching his new self; noticing Lizbeth had hold of his arm once again, he couldn't help labouring the second sigh though he made no attempt to pull away. In all honesty, he was actually beginning to enjoy her company. Before he could stop himself, he'd swiftly planted a kiss on the female's cheek before quickly diverting his gaze in a rather embarrassed way; even before his transformation, he'd found himself to be nothing but awkward around women, which hadn't help matters as he'd constantly been surrounded by women who were taken by his charm and harpooning skills.

It was probably his awkwardness that had caused the sudden kiss, but Lizbeth didn't seem to mind; returning the favour as she leant her head against his muscular arm, they soon found their relaxed, 'love-in' states growing quite tense when they heard the young voice call out in protest, before sending the sword sliding by Lizbeth's feet.

"Nyah! Screw you guys, I'm going to the poop deck before I'm sick or something!"


End file.
